e-Sangha discussion

I picked up a copy of The Dude and the Zen Master by Bernie Glassman and Jeff Bridges which has received a lot of press recently. It's a quick read and not a bad place to begin for those who are new to Zen.

My only complaint is that it typifies (for me) some of the least appealing aspects of North American Zen. As Buddhism spreads across the globe and adapts to the local conditions, here in the US that has unfortunately meant Zen goes to Hollywood. So we are treated to the chit chat of Jeff and Bernie puffing on cigars and dishing up koans. Oh well. Such are our local conditions.

I wrote a short poem about this recently on my blog which you can read here if you feel so inclined:

Meditation in The Parking Lot

Hey, your link didn't work. Thanks for mentioning this book because I hadn't heard of it. I basically live in a cave tho and I practice Tibetan rather than Zen. There's an interview with Bernie Glassman on Huffington Post about the book. At least Buddhism seems to be getting more and more airtime, so that's cool. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-...

Hi Cindy - sorry the link didn't work. If you want to copy and paste try this instead:



http://lampoetry.blogspot.com/2013/01...

That link worked. LOL loved your poem!

Glad you like it. You might enjoy some of the other poems on the same blog which also have a Buddhist flavor, so please feel free to explore.

And if you're interested I translate Tang poetry from time to time, much of which has a Buddhist resonance to it, such as this great trio of poems from Wang Wei:

http://lampoetry.blogspot.com/2012/11...